Repackaged reissue for San Francisco based roots-fusion combo formed from the ashes of the Blues Project. Featuring former Jim Kweskin Jug Band violinist Richard Greene.
Repackaged reissue for San Francisco based roots-fusion combo formed from the ashes of the Blues Project. Featuring former Jim Kweskin Jug Band violinist Richard Greene.
"I purchased this "Sea Train" LP back in 1969 at a local record store. A friend recognized some of the musicians from the Blues Project, however, we never heard any of the actual songs from this album. We were amazed (back then) of the unique songs and their instrumentation. Thirty-Five years later, this LP ranks in my "TOP 10" list from a collection of over 500 albums from the 1960's through 1970's. There are very few bands that come close to this style of music (ie. It's A Beautiful Day, Hello People). Playing the first side forces me to stop and reflect, entering a relaxed state of melancholy, totally entertained by these great musicians. I had the opportunity a few years back to speak with Andy Kulberg, just before his passing. I asked Andy if the guys ever thought of getting back together for a reunion album. He told me everybody was off doing their own thing and that there were not enough fans around to warrant a reunion. That may be the case, but I am proud to have experienced this exceptional group of days passed, in my youth, when life was much easier.....at the seventh dawn, of the sixth sun, during fifth moon, for the fouth time.....................
"
So who's better-- even now?
N. C. Jones | Winchester, VA USA | 08/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a songwriter with roots in classical music as well as pop, I've been listening to this album for 35 years and still consider it one of the ten best non-classical productions ever--
perhaps even the best. From the passages of triple counterpoint to the rapturous displays of delicious, loving pop satire ("Sweet
Creek's Suite") to the heartfelt lyrics, this work has it all.
Special compliments to the work of Richard Greene and his richly
overdubbed quartet stylings. So where are these brilliant guys now?"
Sea Train SEA TRAIN (not the George Martin one)
William Jackson | Pawtucket, RI United States | 08/11/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm really glad to see other people appreciate this brilliant debut album by Sea Train--it should be released as a twofer with Blues Project PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE, which contained the same band members. I agree with the sentiment that called it was one of the greatest non-classical rock records ever (relevant because of the album's baroque stylings and virtuoso musicianship) and also one of the geekiest yet strangely moving records ever. From the time when experimental bands could still get signed...terrific violin and guitar, truly adventurous arrangements, musically all over the map, sounds like no one else and yes, it rocks too. Most of the music appears to have been written by Andy Kulberg, the flute player! I even dig the effete vocals, which fit nicely. Not to be confused with Sea Train SAME produced by George Martin which aims for a similar ecleticism but doesn't have the songs this one does...."
One of the ten most exquisite albums in the realm of rock'n'
Tom Brody | Berkeley, CA | 10/21/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The entire album is an original, in view of its use of flute, saxophone, and fiddle. Few rock'n'roll groups have come close to using this variety of instruments, aside from Love. Four of the songs on this SEATRAIN album compare favorably with Love's masterpieces, SHE COMES IN COLORS, STEPHANIE KNOWS WHO, and ORANGE SKIES.
The songs on the SEATRAIN album are as follows:
(1) SEA TRAIN (4:09). The words begin, "Comin' on easy on the seatrain, walking under the fog again." Here the music is quiet, with a swirly guitar in the background, sounding somewhat like the beginning of H.P.Lovecraft's WHITE SHIP. But then there is a transition, at 45 seconds, where a burst of continuing energy begins and the onset of these lyrics, "I'm going under, and comin' on out, to see you again."
(2) LET THE DUCHESS NO (3:40). This song is like a slow country & western song, except that it is in 3/4 time and contains a double-tracked fiddle and a flute.
(3) PUDDING STREET (4:54). This is an instrumental, beginning with a jazzy descending riff on flute, then a swirly sounding part, and continuing with an aleatory guitar sounding like a darting fly.
(4) PORTRAIT OF THE LADY AS A YOUNG ARTIST (3:42). The song begins like an easy-listening jazz piece. But then there is a transition, where a repetitive chisel-like sound from the keyboards, and a descending chord pattern. Once the tension is built up by the spiking, repetitive sound and the eerie descending chords, the lyrics start with, "She stays in a castle of her own making, fools in the courtyard with a jester or two." When I heard Seatrain perform this piece in San Francisco, it was played more thrashingly and percussively.
(5) AS I LAY LOSING(4:57). This is such a beautiful song that it might be worthwhile to seek out another version of this same song, on Seatrain's Marblehead Messenger album, put out by One Way Records of Albany, New York. Here, the song is entitled "Losing All the Years," and the singer is Peter Rowan.
(6) RONDO (3:24). The is a sad-sounding song, with just a singer, acoustic guitar, and electric bass.
(7) SWEET CREEK'S SUITE (3:56). This is an instrumental, distinguished by a plethora of fine melodies and moods. One mood contains a wailing sax, as might be found on an early Elvis album, an amusing Venture's style surf interlude, and a part sounding like a cello playing creepy horror movie music. Sweet Creek's Suite segues without interruption into Outwear the Hills.
(8) OUTWEAR THE HILLS (5:15). This song has an anthemic quality. Outwear the Hills has a great tune, on par with the final theme of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, which is repeated over and over in the Firebird Suite.
All of the songs are in a similar style. There is no attempt to "experiment" with different styles of music, in the manner found in the first couple of Beatles albums. At the time of this SEATRAIN recording, the musicians had many years of experience with BLUES PROJECT, and other groups. The result, in my opinion, is as great as the first CROSBY, STILLS, and NASH album (Suite Judy Blue Eyes; Wooden Ships; etc.).
I saw Seatrain at the Carrousel Ballroom in San Francisco in 1968, in a program that also featured Santana and Yusef Lateef (jazz flute). Seatrain's performance was a bit unusual, for that era, in that their first set was identical to their second set, in other words, the music really wasn't mainly improvisation. That performance was also different from the album, in the singer was different. He had a sharper sounding voice. He wasn't the soft-voiced John Gregory listed on the album. If there could be any improvement on the album, it would be the same songs but with the sharp-voiced singer."
Classic
Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber | Mahwah, NJ USA | 08/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Seatrain formed from remains of the Blues Project and the Jim Kerswin Jug Band. Peter Rowan, late of the great Earth Opera, also joined, but not on this first album
This is great, organic rock with a driving jazz violin. It is nothing like Zappa's Hot Rats, despite the fiddle. The songs lack Frank's roller coaster chord structres and dense as a beahive solos. Instead, this is pollished blues with fresh chord subtitutions and exellent emsable playing.
The band can be sophistacated and rootsey at once, and the result is unique. 1969 was an incubative year for this type of music. B--ch's (Amazon's idea, not mine) Brew was a year away, and labals like Vertigo were in infancy. Music beyond straight rock had no name, so bands like Seatrain expermented as they saw fit, infusing more advanced musical elements into music they played natrually. Everything was possible, because no one knew what any genre was called. Better still, no one cared. Everyone was trying to outdo the other guy, and that was an petrie dish for loads of great work. Maybe Miles captured the mileu best, making albums subtited "Directions In Music."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
